The present Una district
until 1st Nov., 1966 was one of the tehsil of the Hoshiarpur district of Punjab.
Consequent upon reorganization of Punjab all the hill areas including Una tehsil was
transferred to Himachal Pradesh. Eversince, until September, 1972 it continued to remain
as tehsil of the then Kangra district. On the 1st September,1972 the Himachal Pradesh
Govt. reorganised the then Kangra district into three districts namely Una, Hamirpur and
Kangra. Una district consists of two Sub-Divisions(Una and Amb), three Tehsils(Bangana,
Amb and Una) and two Sub-Tehsils(Haroli and Bharwain) and is having five Development
Blocks(Una, Bangana, Gagret, Amb and Haroli).

PRE-INDEPENDENCE HISTORY

It is
believed that the present Una district, minus its Eastern side, was formally a part of the
erstwhile Kangra State. Bulk of the present Una district which is
otherwise popularly known as Jaswan Dun was ruled by the Katoch family of Kangra. The
Jaswan State which occupied a fertile tract in the JASWAN DUN valley of the outer hills of
the historical Kangra state was founded by a cadet of the Katoch line about A.D.1170,
whose name is said to have been PURAB CHAND. Jaswan was the first off shoot from the
parent stem. It is not improbable, however, that the State was originally a fief (Jagir)
which became independent in the unsettled times following on the Muhammadan invasions.
From Purab Chand to Ummed Singh 27 Rajas in all ruled the Jaswan State. Not much is known
about the JASWAN STATE until the time of AKBAR when it became subject to Mughal rule. But
for one or two unsuccessful rebellion it remained loyal to the Mughal empire and assisted
the Mughals with contingents as and when required. But with the decline of the Mughal
empire and rise of the Sikhs, the Jaswan state came under their dominance and in 1786 Raja
Sansar Chand of Kangra acquired paramount power in the hills. So heavy was his hand even
upon the off shoots of his own family that they combined against him-Jaswan among
them-when the Gurkhas invaded Kangra under Amar Singh Thapa.

With the acquisition of Kangra Fort, on the expulsion of the Gurkhas in 1809, JASWAN STATE
became subject to Ranjit Singh and in 1815 it was annexed to the Sikh Kingdom. It was in the autumn of
that year Maharaja Ranjit Singh summoned all his forces, personal and tributary, to
assemble at SIALKOT, unluckily the Rajas of Nurpur and Jaswan failed to obey the summons
and a fine fixed beyond their resources was imposed on each. Submitting quietly to his
fate Raja Ummed Singh resigned his State and accepted a JAGIR of Rs. 12000 annual value
and thus came the end of JASWAN STATE which lasted for probably 600 years.

Jaswan has yet to meet another challenge and taste another adversity before final
extinction. In consequence to the treaty of Lahore of 9th March 1846, Hoshiarpur as a part
of JALANDHAR DOAB had been annexed to the British Territories. The Raja of Jaswan and
other Rajput princes, judging doubtlessly the liberal treatment the Shimla Hill Chiefs had
received at the hands of the British Authorities, were under the belief that with the
coming of the English the powers sovereignty formerly enjoyed by them would be restored,
though no such hopes had ever been held out of them. But discovering that change of
masters had not changed their status, all of them sympathized with the Sikh cause during
the second Sikh War of 1848 and as such Raja Ummed Singh joined the revolt of the Hill
Chief against British authority. John Lawrence then Commissioner of Hoshiarpur attacked
the Rajas forts and razed them to the ground. His possessions were confiscated and
he and his son Jai Singh were deported to Almora in Kumaon (Garhwal) in the North-West
provinces, where both of them died. Some time later, at the request of Maharaja Gulab
Singh of Jammu, Raja Ran Singh, son of Raja Jai Singh, was permitted to return, in order
that his son, Raghunath Singh might marry the Maharajas grand-daughter.

In the year 1877, at the request of Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Jammu and Kashmir, the
British government restored to Raja Ran Singh the Jagir in Jaswan, originally held by Raja
Ummed Singh consisting of 21 villages in Jaswan Dun valley and the family garden at Amb,
as well as palace buildings of Raja Ummed Singh at Rajpura. Raja Ran Singh died in 1892
and was succeeded by his son Raja Raghunath Singh who also died in 1918. Thereafter,
Laxman Singh succeeded him who started residing at Amb. After expiry of Laxman Singh his
son Chani Singh is living at Amb.

But before a description is given of KUTHLEHAR STATE, which was situated on the Eastern
side of the present Una district a mention of the principality of Bedis of Una, is a
must. The District Gazetteer of Hoshiarpur (1884) reads
:- Bedi Baba Kaladhari, a descendant of Baba Nanak, crossed over from Dera Baba
Nanak (Gurdaspur), early in the last century and after wandering about the Jullundur Doab,
for some years, finally settled down at Una, Hoshiarpur, where he attracted a crowd of
followers who flocked to hear his eloquent disquisition on the Granth Sahib, a book as
difficult of understanding then as in the present day. The Jaswal Raja Ram Singh made
himself popular by granting the Bedi the revenue of seventy ghumaons of land. In
Samvat 1860 (1804 A.D.) Raja Ummed Singh gave to Baba Sahib Singh Bedi the whole of the
Una Taluka, a grant which was confirmed by Maharaja Ranjit Singh in Samvat 1872 and about
the same time he received Nurpur Taluka from Sardar Budh Singh. Later on Maharaja Sher
Singh gave Talhatti to Baba Bikrama Singh Bedi and thus the principality of Bedis of
Una went on flourishing and expanding. And as such, after the annexation of the Jullundur
Doab by the British in 1846, Baba Bikrama Singh was one of the few powerful Jagirdars left
in the area. He held a jagir worth two lakhs of rupees which included more than a dozen
villages granted to him by Maharaja Sher Singh and Maharaja Dalip Singh, besides the well
fortified and strong forts of Nurpur Bedian, Gunachaur and Dakhni Serai. The announcement
of the British Government to collect and melt all the cannons seized from the local chiefs
resulted in a clash between Bikrama Singh Bedi and the British. Outright refusal to
surrender the guns at any cost led to dismantling of all the forts and melting of the
guns/cannons besides confiscating the jagir as punishment and thereby offering a pension
of Rs. 31,212 which was further reduced to an insignificant amount of Rs. 12000. After
turning down the offer of reduced pension Baba Bikrama Singh Bedi devoted himself whole
heartedly in raising an armed revolt against the Britishers in the hills. It was at this
time that the hill Raja of Jaswan and Datarpur also revolted thereby converting the entire
Jaswan Dun Valley from Hajipur to Rupar into a trouble spot for the British. Baba Bikrama
Singh rushed to reinforce the army of Jaswan Raja Ummed Singh, but unfortunately he was
defeated, before Bikrama Singh would join him. Left alone after the defeat of hill Rajas
Bikrama Singh thought it advisable to join the forces of Sher Singh. After the historic
battles of Chillianwala and Gujrat a meeting of the topmost leaders of the insurrection
was held at Rawalpindi and in view of the majority decision, of which he was not a party,
Baba Bikrama Singh who also surrendered alongwith others, remained in surveillance at
Amritsar till his death in 1863. Nowadays, Baba Sarvjot Singh Bedi is on the holy and
saintly gaddi.

Situated in the eastern part of the present Una district, as mentioned earlier, Kuthlehar
was the smallest of all the Kangra kingdom in olden times. As it consisted of two
provinces-Chauki and Kuthlehar, hence the double name by which the State was generally
known. The territory of Kuthlehar has been formed by a break in the continuity of the
second or Jaswan Chain of the hills. As this ridge approaches the Sutlej, it suddenly
divides into two parallel branches; and the valley between them, with a portion of the
enclosing hills, is the pretty State of Kuthlehar. The dynasty is one of considerable
antiquity. The progenitor of the family was a Brahmin but on acquiring regal he was
recognized as Rajput. Mr. G.C. Barnes states that he came from Sambhal, near Moradabad but
the family records trace his descent from a Raja of Poona. About the tenth or eleventh
century the then head of the family, named Jas Pal, conquered the taluqas of Talhatti and
Kuthlehar and fixed his capital at Kot-Kuthlehar. The two small states of Bhajji and koti
in the Simla Hills were said to have been founded, by his second son and grand-son. The
clan name is Kuthlehria.

Although the state is not mentioned in the Muhammadan histories of the time yet the ruling
family possess sanads granted by the Mughal emperors, addressing them as Rai and
recognising their rights as rulers of the tracts Chauki, Kuthlehar, Mankhandi in Nadaun
and Talhatti in Hoshiarpur on payment of tribute and under the condition of military
service. They enjoyed tranquil possession of their territory all through the Mughal
period, but in later times the aggressions of the neighbouring States reduced their
country to the present limits of the Kuthlehar taluqa .

In the year 1758 Ghamand Chand who was appointed Governor of the hills by Ahmad Shah
Durrani, annexed Chauki, the northern province of the state and in 1786, Sansar Chand
seized Kuthlehar and the Raja was completely dispossessed, but during the Gurkha invasion
all his territory was restored. From 1809 the state was subject to the Sikhs and in 1825
Maharaja Ranjit Singh determined to annex it laid siege to the strong fort of kotwalbah.
The defence was conducted by Raja Narain Pal in person and for two long months the sieage
made no progress. Ultimately a promise of a jagir of Rs. 10000 was then made, if the fort
was surrendered, to which the Raja agreed.

During the first Sikh War, Raja Narain Pal succeeded in expelling the Sikhs from Kotwalbah
and later in consideration of his services, he was awarded a life grant of Rs. 10000 in
addition to the jagir of like value which was afterwards confirmed to his heirs in
perpetuity, subject to a nazrana of Rs. 1188. He was also allowed three-fourths of the
forest income within his jagir. Later on one of the head of the family Raja Brij Mohal Pal
was the fifth Viceregal Darbari in Kangra District.

The Punjab Gazetteer of the Hoshiarpur District (1883-84) in its Chapter "The
people" makes a mention of Rajput Chaudharis of Ambota and the Brahmins of Takarla in
Talhatti under the sub-head Minor families on page 78 while that of "Babhaur family
having eight branches with the title of Rai to the head of each" on page 76-77 under
the head leading families besides Ranas of Kungrat who being merely a respectable zamindar
was enjoying a sufedposhi allowance of Rs. 180. Similarly a mention of
Dadwal Rajputs of Pirthipur had been made by Charles Francis Massy in his book CHIEFS AND
FAMILIES OF NOTE OF PANJAB (1890), which reads as follows:-  The early history of
this family is as interesting from a mythical point of view as that of Rai family of
Babhaur. Both go back to Bhum Chand, the heaven born. But they branched away from each
other about twenty generation ago, when Gani Chand son of Raja Megh Chand, came down from
the higher mountains and founded the kingdom of Guler, near Gopipur Dera, Kangra, just
north of the Hoshiarpur boundary line. His possessions passed to his elder son Makamal
Chand. The younger, Sri Data, moved south into the present Dasua Tehsil of Hoshiarpur and
there established the small Rajput State of Datarpur, which had an existence of many
hundred years. The Rulers were practically independent until the beginning of the present
century, when Maharaja Ranjit Singh began to interest himself in their affairs. Raja
Gobind Chand, grandfather of the present representative, having failed to obey the
Maharajas summons to attend at Lahore was deprived of his sovereign powers and
reduced to the status of a Jagirdar. On his death in 1818, his son Raja Jagat Chand was
allowed a jagir grant of Rs. 4600/- and was in the enjoyment of this income when the Doab
became British territory in 1846. The Rajput princes of Kangra had been under the
impression that the accession of the English would be marked by the restoration to them of
all their ancient rights and privileges, of which they had been shorn by the Sikhs and
bitter was their disappointment of finding that the new Rulers were by no means inclined
to alter the state of affairs which existed on their taking over the country. The revolt
of the Jaswan and Datarpur Rajas and its speedy suppression by Sir John Lawrence has been
described in another Chapter. Raja Jagat Chand was made prisoner and deported with his
eldest son Devi Chand to Almora, in the North-West provinces. They were allowed a
maintenance grant of Rs. 3600/- per annum.

Jagat Chand died in 1877. His son Udham Singh lives in Pirthipur, Tehsil Una, Hoshiarpur,
and enjoys a pension of Rs. 600 per annum. His step-mother has a similar allowance, and
the widow of his brother Man chand also receives a small pension. Mian Devi Chand died in
1883, leaving two sons. The elder, Suram Chand, is a General in the army of the Maharaja
of Jammu. The second son, Raghbir Chand, has office under the Raja of Mandi, who is
married to his sister. He is in receipt of a pension of Rs. 420/- per annum from the
British Government. Both brothers are connected by marriage with the Raja of Sirmur. Mian
Udham Singh is married to a cousin of Rai Hira Chand of Babhaur. He is a provincial
Darbari of the Hoshiarpur district. The widows of Mian Devi Chand are in receipt of a
maintenance allowance of Rs. 180/- per annum.